New twist to Singur impasse

Trinamool Congress leader Partha Chatterjee on Friday met the West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi fuelling speculation that the party chief Mamata Banerjee would meet him later in the day.

Chatterjee, the leader of the opposition in the state assembly, met the governor a day after the proposed meeting which was postponed on Thursday.

Banerjee had earlier announced that as soon as the governor returned from Delhi, she would meet him before chalking her future course of action.

Meanwhile 17 farmers have responded to the government 's new compensation package, official sources said.

HC rejects PIL on Singur impasse: The Calcutta high court meanwhile rejected a public interest litigation seeking intervention of the court in directing the West Bengal government to ensure that the Tata Motors small car plant comes up at Singur.

A division bench of Chief Justice S S Nijjar and Justice Sanjiv Banerjee rejected the petition on the ground that the petition did not have any locus standi.

The bench said it would not interfere in this matter on the basis of the petition.

A Delhi-based society had filed the petition on Thursay stating that if Tata Motors did not set up the plant, West Bengal would lose out on development and creation of jobs.

The society had also appealed to the state government to ensure that the Tata Motors plant stayed in West Bengal.